The revival of what used to be regular incidents in the bay comes after Slovenia and Croatia decided in 2009 to take the border case before an international arbitration tribunal, which is expected to deliver a verdict in the first half of 2015.

Several cases were reported in the past month of Croatian maritime police engaging Slovenian fishermen active in Piran Bay, claiming they are fishing in Croatian waters.

The ministry stressed that this means Croatia is "unilaterally interfering in the agreed status quo regarding the avoidance of incidents at sea, which both countries respected in recent years" and which is part of the agreement on arbitration.

gz/mas